


Belonging

by HixyStix (GaiaMyles)



Category: Jericho (US 2006)
Genre: Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 22:15:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16104905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaiaMyles/pseuds/HixyStix
Summary: Bill wasn't expecting this proposal, not from his best friend.  But now that it's been made, he can't bring himself to say no.





	Belonging

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WarlockWriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarlockWriter/gifts).



> I should just start a series called "I can't believe I wrote this."
> 
> Beta and moodboard by WarlockWriter, who also egged me into this fic.

[ ](http://tinypic.com?ref=ngyefs)

 

Bill woke up slowly, warm and comfy and with someone snuggled up next to him.  He blinked and saw enough of the ceiling to know he was not in his room.  So he’d followed a girl home.  How’d that happen?  He’d just gone for drinks with Jimmy and Margaret.  He didn’t even remember a girl in Bailey’s that he could have hit on, much less scored with.

Sunrise was just peeking through a window, so Bill looked around him.  A dark head of hair rested on his chest.  Soft-looking shoulders were exposed above the sheets, skin enticing enough Bill wanted to touch it – but he didn’t want to wake her yet, not until he figured out what happened.

There was a snore and Bill jumped in surprise when he realized there was a third, large person on the far side of the bed.  The movement woke the woman on his chest.  She looked up and Bill about crawled out of his skin.

Margaret.  It was Margaret.  Which meant the lump on the other side of the bed was Jimmy.

And Bill was naked in bed with them.

He fell out of bed with a loud thump and frantically started looking for his clothing.  If only his head would stop pounding, this would be a lot easier.

“Bill,” Margaret said softly, reaching out to him.  Bill grabbed a pair of pants – he didn’t know whose – to cover himself with.  “Bill, it’s okay.”

Bill balked.  “What happened?” he hissed.  “And is Jimmy gonna kill me?”

Margaret smiled.  “No, he’s not.  You don’t remember last night, do you?”  She slid out of the bed, also naked. 

Bill shut his eyes.  He heard Margaret shuffle around and then some clothing dropped in his lap.  Bill peeked and they were the khakis he’d worn last night.  Margaret – now dressed in a gown – reached for his hand.

“Come on,” Margaret said, helping him up.  “I’m going to go start coffee and I’ll tell you what we all talked about last night.”

She left the room and Bill pulled on his pants as quietly as possible, trying not to wake Jimmy.

He didn’t follow Margaret to the kitchen.  Instead, he stopped in the room he was renting from the Taylors and sat on the bed, staring at himself in the mirror.

His hair was sticking up in every direction – ‘sex hair’, his last girlfriend had called it.  And, oh jeez, there were some fresh hickeys on his chest.

The fuck had he done?

He grabbed a tatty robe and wrapped it around him protectively before joining Margaret.  The coffee had just finished brewing by the time he got there and she handed him his usual mug, fixed just how he liked it..

“What happened?” he repeated, holding the mug of coffee like it was an anchor to reality.

“Jimmy and I have been talking,” Margaret said lightly.  “And we agreed: we both feel something is missing from our relationship.  And that something is you.”

Bill’s eyes grew wide.

Margaret grinned.  “Yeah, that’s the same look you gave us last night.  But it’s the truth.  We understand if you aren’t interested, but you were last night and it went pretty damn well, if you ask me.”

“But… but I’m just renting from you.  I’m not trying to horn in on your marriage!” Bill protested.

“You’re not ‘horning in.’  You’ve been invited.”

Bill took a gulp of his coffee, burning his tongue.

“We’re not looking for some kinky sex toy to toss aside later, Bill.  More of a polyamory sort of thing.  As far as anyone else has to know, you’re just renting a room.  They don’t need to know you’re sharing our bed – sex or no.”

Bill’s head swam.  This was too much to process with a hangover.

Heavy thumps from the other room told him Jimmy was now awake.  Oh crap, what if Margaret wasn’t telling the truth?  What if Jimmy was going to kill him for messing with his wife?

Jimmy just squeezed Bill’s shoulder as he walked past, taking his coffee mug from Margaret, too.

“Hon, Bill had a little too much to drink last night and I don’t think he quite believes me.  Why don’t you tell him I’m not joking about our invite,” Margaret said, picking up her own coffee mug and starting the next pot brewing.

Jimmy looked at Bill, who shrank under his gaze.  Jimmy before coffee was a scary thing and Bill feared he was on the wrong side of his temper.

“If Margaret said she wants to run away with you, she’s lying,” Jimmy said gruffly.  “If she told you we want to try the poly-whatever thing with you, she’s telling the truth.”

Bill’s stomach flipped.  “Look,” he said.  “I don’t remember how you convinced me last night, but… this is all a little over my head right now.  Did we… did we really?  Last night?”

Margaret grinned over her coffee mug.  “Have you seen your chest?  You left some marks on me as well.”

Bill gulped.  He’d always thought Margaret was pretty and he’d been jealous of Jimmy dating her since sophomore year.  But he’d never dreamt of doing anything about that.  She was Jimmy’s girlfriend, then his wife, and a good friend just _didn’t do that_.

But apparently they wanted him to…

Bill shook his head.  “I’ve got to think about this when I’m awake,” he said.  “It’s a little much this morning.”

Jimmy and Margaret both nodded.  “Asking you over drinks was probably not the best idea on our part,” Jimmy said.  “Sorry about that.”

Bill stood, leaning on the table for a moment.  “I’m gonna go get ready for work.”

 

Bill almost took a spare patrol car and went out on his own to think.  But really, he had questions and he couldn’t exactly avoid Jimmy.

He stood by their regular car and waved Jimmy over.

“Wasn’t sure you’d want me around today,” Jimmy said, amused.

Bill climbed into the driver’s seat.  “Once we’re at a good place to stop, you’re explaining some things to me.”

“I figured.”

Bill skipped their usual in-town patrol and drove out on Route 48 towards New Bern, where he found a place to park the car.

He glanced over and Jimmy was waiting patiently.

Bill took a deep breath.  “Is this for real?” he asked.

“If it wasn’t, would you have woken up in our bed this morning?” Jimmy asked.

Bill shook his head quickly.  “That could have been a drunken mistake.  But you’re telling me it wasn’t; that you want me there regularly.”

“Yes.”

“That you want to share Margaret with me.”

“She wants to and I’m open to the idea.  Last night didn’t bother me, so I think I’m okay with it.”

“So last night Margaret and I…?”

“It wasn’t just hickeys,” Jimmy said.  “There was a reason you took your clothes off.”

Gulp.  “Why me?”

Jimmy shrugged.  “Because you and I are already best friends.  Up until today, you’ve been comfortable around me.  Since you’ve rented from us, Margaret has grown really fond of you.  We both love you as friends and are open to more.”  He looked out the window, fiddling with the radar gun.  “Because we both recognized there was something wrong with our marriage.  We thought maybe we needed kids, but both of us realized that we really only felt complete when you were hanging out with us.  Because you’re the one person I don’t feel jealous of.”

Bill boggled.  “You guys should _have_ kids.  You’re like a perfect couple.  I’d just… mess that up.”

Jimmy laid a hand on Bill’s shoulder and he tried not to flinch away – he never would have before.  “You wouldn’t.  You’d fit right in.  You already have.  Look, if you say no, we’re not kicking you out.  We’ll leave you alone.  But we _do_ want you.”

Bill never imagined a conversation like this with Jimmy.  If Jimmy was telling him they wanted him, then they wanted him.  Jimmy didn’t lie.

He took a deep breath.  “How… how would this work?” he asked slowly.  “I’m not saying yes yet.  I just want to know.”

“Well, for starters, we’d invest in a king size bed and hope that you’d join us every night.  Just for sleeping or for more if you want it.  You’re already a part of our lives at home, so nothing has to change except that maybe you sit on the couch with us instead of the armchair.  You treat Margaret as a girlfriend; I won’t be jealous.  You come with us when we go out to eat.”

“And what does this make us?” Bill asked.  “You said Margaret becomes my girlfriend.  Are you asking to be my boyfriend, too?  Because I’m not sure I swing that way.”

Jimmy avoided looking at Bill.  “I think that’s something we’ll have to figure out on the way.  I’m not sure myself.  But I’m not _not_ sure, either.”

Well, that was a revelation.  Bill had no idea Jimmy had ever thought like that.  He felt like he should be bothered, but… he wasn’t.  If someone else had said that to him, maybe.  But Jimmy was his best friend, who knew all his secrets and had since seventh grade.  If there ever was a guy he could trust, it was Jimmy.

Bill stared out the window, too, wishing a car would drive by or they’d get a call from Dispatch.  “Okay,” he said finally.  “I’m still not one hundred percent on this, but maybe we can try it.  Start slow.”

“Really?” Jimmy asked.  “I was almost convinced you’d say no and go running from us.”

“Part of me wants to,” Bill admitted.  “But part of me is so fucking alone, I’m willing to try anything.  And if I’m going to try something like this, I’d rather it be you and Margaret than anyone else.”

Jimmy reached over and pulled Bill into a hug.  They’d hugged like this before, after seeing bad wrecks and close calls, but the hug had more weight now.  Bill forced himself to relax.  He had to come to terms with the fact that this would probably become commonplace.

 

Jimmy must have texted Margaret about their conversation, because she greeted Bill at the door with a light kiss at the corner of his mouth.  Bill stopped where he stood.

“Don’t be shy,” Margaret chastised, reaching behind him to close the door.  “I know you said yes.  And I know you said start slow, which is why Jimmy gets the full-on welcome home kiss and you get the peck.”

Bill looked around.  “Where is Jimmy?  He left when I did, but turned the other way.”

“I sent him to Gracie Leigh’s for some steaks.  Figured we’d grill out tonight and celebrate trying something new.”

Bill reached out and grabbed Margaret’s arm, stopping her from leaving the entryway.  “I asked Jimmy this, but I want to ask you:  why me?”

Margaret turned back and looked at Bill almost sadly.  “Do you think we should have chosen someone else?  That there’s anyone better suited to the both of us?”

“But…”

“But nothing, Bill Koehler,” Margaret said.  “You’re Jimmy’s best friend.  You’re my friend, too.  You live with us already and fit into the family well.  And, well, if you’ll let me be shallow, you’re a good-looking man.  Why _not_ you?”

“I’m not–”

“Yes you are,” Margaret cut him off.  “You’re attractive.  Don’t you dare argue with me on that point.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bill said, unwilling to press the matter.

“Good.  Now go change out of that uniform.”

Bill walked to his bedroom in a daze.  Could this day really be real?

Apparently.  Dinner went by with little conversation, except about the three of them going to New Bern to shop for a new bed after work tomorrow.

Bill helped Margaret clean up in the kitchen, as he usually did, and went to join Jimmy by the TV.  He almost went for the armchair, but remembered what Jimmy said earlier.  He sat on the opposite side of the couch, leaving just enough room for Margaret to fit between them.

When she finally sat down, Margaret reached for both of their hands, squeezing them tightly.  Bill looked over at Jimmy, worried he’d change his mind, but Jimmy wasn’t even paying attention.  Margaret smiled at him and he relaxed, enjoying the feeling of holding someone’s hand.  He’d had a few one-night-stands in the past few years, but not a relationship.  He’d almost forgotten how to be in one and now he had a relationship with two people.  Two _married_ people.

The news went off and it was bedtime, at least for him and Jimmy.  Bill sat still, waiting for Jimmy or Margaret to make a move.

Jimmy stood first, pulling Margaret up behind him.  She, in turn, pulled Bill up.  “You ready to join us?” she asked.  “Sober this time.”

Bill bit the inside of his lip.  “Yeah,” he said finally.  “I think I am.”

Margaret pushed Jimmy towards the bedroom and turned to Bill.  She was nearly his height, so she didn’t have to reach up very far to run her hands through his hair.  “You’re going to have to get used to us touching you,” she said.  “Relax.  Neither of us bite and we aren’t trying to push your limits.”

She leaned in for another soft kiss and this time Bill felt emboldened.  He turned and caught her in a true kiss.  Margaret leaned back, smiling.  “There you go.  That’s the idea.  Now go get your pajamas on and meet us in the bedroom.”

Bill changed quickly, before his bravery left him.  By the time he got to the Taylor’s bedroom – was it his bedroom now, too? – Jimmy was also in pajama pants and Margaret was taking off her bra.

Bill turned, to be polite, and both of them laughed.  “It’s okay to watch her, Bill,” Jimmy said.  “I always do.”

A light hand on his shoulder pulled him around to face Margaret, who kissed him again, this time completely topless.  Bill started to put his hands on her waist, but paused, letting them hover in the air.

“Bill,” murmured Margaret.  “How many times do we have to tell you you have permission?”

Bill glanced at Jimmy and he nodded.

Placing his hands on Margaret’s waist, he kissed her again, opening up this time to her insistent tongue.

“There you go,” she said when they pulled back.  “That’s the idea.”  Margaret pushed him towards the bed and took off her pants.

Bill’s dick woke up when she bent over in nothing but silk-looking panties to pick up the dirty clothes.  He tried to hide it, but embarrassingly, Jimmy noticed.

“Told you it’s okay,” he said, but Bill wasn’t reassured.

Margaret crawled up the bed, in between the two men, and kissed Jimmy while her hand sought out Bill’s bare chest.  Bill couldn’t look away, feeling like a voyeur – but the caresses on his chest felt nice, he had to admit.

They felt nice, but they weren’t helping him get ready to sleep.  Neither was watching Jimmy and Margaret, knowing he also had permission to do that.

Jimmy pulled back and lightly pushed Margaret towards Bill.  Instead of coming for his mouth, she saw that he was partially hard and grinned, kissing his chest instead, swirling her tongue around his nipples.

Bill arched his back, enjoying the sensation and then Margaret started kissing down his stomach, stopping just below his belly button.

“You wanted to go slow.  Should I stop?” she asked.

Surprising himself, Bill shook his head.  He really didn’t want her to quit, not now.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jimmy propped up on his elbow, watching, but it didn’t affect his arousal.  Especially not when Margaret’s hand slipped under his pants and wrapped around him.

Bill raised his hips and pushed down his pants so she had a better angle to stroke him.

Jimmy pulled down Margaret’s panties and kissed her back and she caressed Bill.  Bill couldn’t see where he was kissing her, but he was getting moans out of her that made Bill groan too.

Margaret stopped and took a foil packet from Jimmy.  She opened it and rolled the condom on Bill, then crawled until she was straddling him.  “Ready, hon?” she said.

Bill nodded.  Oh God, he couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Good.  You’ll remember it this time.”  Margaret slid down on him, slick and tight and Bill had to bite his lip to stifle a happy cry.

Bill rubbed Margaret’s thighs as she moved, up and down, slowly and torturously.

Jimmy, still clad in pajama pants, but straining against them, came up behind Margaret and nibbled at her neck.  She faltered in her movements, getting a moan from Bill.

Bill held her by the hips and forced her to speed up.  She leaned forward against his chest and Jimmy followed, nipping at her shoulders and her back.  Bill couldn’t believe he was still hard with another guy in the bed, but damn if he wasn’t turned on by Margaret.  It was like he woke up in a fantasy world.

Bill began to shudder, warmth building inside him.  “I’m not…  I’m gonna…” he stuttered.

Margaret moved quicker and Bill came, hard and fast and breathing heavily.

Bill tried to catch his breath when Margaret pulled off him.

“I’m not done,” Margaret said.  “Jimmy?  Want to help me out?”

Bill watched Jimmy roll atop his wife and then sat up, pulling off the condom.  He stood to take it to the trash, but Margaret reached out to him.

“Don’t leave,” she said breathlessly.

Bill leaned forward and dropped the condom in the bedroom trash bin and came back to bed.  Margaret gripped his hand, her panting increasing in speed.

It was like watching porn, if the actors were two people you cared about.  And were truly enjoying themselves.  Bill idly wondered if he’d be able to get Margaret off like that someday or if that was a Jimmy-only thing.

Margaret squeezed his hand tighter and then cried out, followed by Jimmy giving a shaky grunt and stopping, pushed inside Margaret as far as he could.

Bill let out a breath as Jimmy and Margaret separated.  Margaret smiled happily and reached out to both men.  “See?  This works,” she said, and Bill knew it was meant for him.  “Come here.  You belong here.”

Bill let her pull him back towards the center of the bed.  She scooted up and Bill found himself leaning against her breast with an arm wrapped around his head.  This must be where she wanted him.

Margaret didn’t let go, not until after Bill fell asleep, sated and warm and wanted.  He could barely remember the last time that happened.

 

 

Until the new bed frame and mattress were delivered, Bill didn’t quite believe this arrangement was real. 

Apparently it was real enough for Jimmy and Margaret to shell out real money, though.  The bedroom was smaller, but now all three of them had room to stretch out in bed.  Most of the time, Margaret slept in the middle, but some nights, when she felt Bill was insecure, she made him sleep in the middle, surrounded on both sides by people that cared about him.

Slowly, Bill began to think of it as _his_ bed in _his_ bedroom.  The other room was just a place to store his stuff.

With the acceptance of the sleeping arrangements came acceptance that he had a not-just-friends place in Jimmy and Margaret’s hearts.  He couldn’t quite bring himself to call it love, but Margaret had no such compunctions.  She sent both men off to work every morning with a kiss and an “I love you, be careful.”

And the mornings Bill didn’t have to work?  Margaret saw Jimmy off and took Bill back to bed.  Most often for morning snuggles, but sometimes for just-the-two-of-them sex.  Bill felt guilty at first, but Jimmy laughed at him when he confessed.

“What do you think Margaret and I do on _my_ days off?” he asked.

It took a good six months, but Bill finally relaxed and let Jimmy and Margaret care for him.  He tried to do the same back, but felt he was at a disadvantage – he’d come to accept this much later than either one of them.

Bill’s confidence was tested, though, when Margaret announced she was pregnant.

They knew it was Jimmy’s; Bill had been using condoms and Jimmy hadn’t.  Bill thought maybe the baby would get him kicked out of their bed or even their house.  They couldn’t continue this with _kids_ around, could they?

Margaret laughed when Bill asked if he should move back to his old room.  “Of course not, silly,” she said, cupping his chin.  “This baby’s just going to have three people to love it.  We’ll explain when it’s old enough.”  Jimmy nodded in agreement.

The Taylors were as good as their word.  Bill stayed in their bed throughout Margaret’s pregnancy.  He’d never been around a pregnant woman before, but Margaret made it look good, even when she felt miserable. 

He couldn’t join them for all the doctor’s visits and ultrasounds – appearances and such – but Margaret made sure she told Bill everything just as soon as they got home.  He helped Jimmy paint the nursery and put together the crib.  In every way they could, the Taylors kept him involved in preparing for the new baby.

Woody was born late one night at the clinic, a couple weeks premature.  Jimmy stayed with Margaret and the baby, leaving Bill alone in the huge bed and in the patrol car for a few days.  Bill didn’t know what to do with himself: the bed was too big for just one man, no matter how he sprawled.  He caught himself sleeping in the middle of the bed, on Margaret’s pillow, where he could smell both of them.

When had he become so sentimental?

Bill was so happy when Jimmy and Margaret brought the baby home, he almost couldn’t stand it.  Margaret showed him how to change diapers and fix formula for when she wasn’t around and pointed out that Woody recognized Bill’s voice from before he was born – that’s why Bill was able to calm him down as well as Jimmy or Margaret.

_Wow_ , Bill thought.  He really was part of a family now.

Sort of.  The world at large couldn’t know – which meant Woody couldn’t, either, not until he was old enough to understand keeping secrets.

Bill got it.  Sometimes it hurt, but then Margaret would welcome him to bed with open arms and Jimmy would sleep with an arm draped across them both and all would be right with the world until Woody cried again.

 

Woody entered his terrible twos and Bill backed off, letting Jimmy and Margaret parent him.  He watched, a little jealously, but without complaining.

Jimmy and Margaret saw him watching, though.

One night, as things got going in bed, Margaret stopped Bill with a kiss and plucked the condom from his hand.

“Bill,” she said quietly, “we need to talk about something.”

Bill sat up, pulling away from Margaret.  This was it.  Everything was over.

Margaret reached for his hands and drew them back to her body.  “Not a bad talk.”

“Oh,” Bill murmured.  He noticed Jimmy watching him closely, too.  “Then what?”

“I want – Jimmy and I want – another baby.  We want you to be in on the decision.  And if you’re open to it, I want the baby to be yours,” Margaret explained, playing with Bill’s fingers.

Bill’s eyes widened.  “Mine?”

“If you don’t want another baby, we’ll wait,” Jimmy said.  “But you’re part of this family.  That should include the kids.”

Bill flopped onto his back.  “But it couldn’t _be_ my baby.  Not in public.  Not as far as the kid would know.”

Margaret looked down at him sadly.  “But _we’ll_ know.  We’ll look at both of the kids and see all three of us.”

Bill thought for a minute, but he knew his mind had been made up the second Margaret asked.  He’d do anything she asked.  He rolled back over and kissed her.  “I’m in,” he said, in the small breaks they took to breathe. 

“Good,” said Margaret.  “I really want a baby with you.”

Bill glanced at Jimmy again.  Sleeping with his wife was one thing – having a baby Jimmy would have to pass off as his own?  Totally different thing.

Jimmy nodded at him.  He was cool with it.

Margaret handed Jimmy the condom this time.  She pulled Bill close, stroking him and Jimmy at the same time.  He couldn’t help it – Bill whimpered, it felt so good.  And to know that he was about to feel Margaret without latex between them…  Well, that was a major turn-on.

He propped himself up over Margaret and nudged her legs with a knee.  She spread them willingly.  He crawled down in the bed and started licking and kissing around her.  She writhed beneath him, grabbing his hair, and Bill saw Jimmy playfully licking at her breast above him.  No wonder Margaret couldn’t stop moving.  Bill focused his ministrations and Margaret bit her lip to try and keep quiet, but she wasn’t successful.  “Fuck!” she hissed as she came down from her climax.  “Don’t you dare stop, Jimmy, and Bill, inside me _now_.”

Bill was not one to disobey a direct order.  He positioned himself so he wouldn’t bump into Jimmy’s head and slipped inside Margaret.

Oh, if she felt wonderful through a condom, she felt even more exquisite without one.  Bill groaned, shuddering.

Margaret moved her hips, burying Bill a little deeper inside her and he got the idea.  Move, damn it. 

Bill was concentrating on Margaret enough that he barely noticed Jimmy’s hand sneaking between them, to massage Margaret to a second orgasm.  At this point, though, he was used to Jimmy being involved in their sex now, and vice versa.  Three years ago, when they starting this thing of theirs?  Not so much.  But now, it was a group effort and Bill wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Woody grew out of his crib and into a real bed just in time for Margaret to announce she was pregnant again.  This time they knew it wasn’t Jimmy’s.

Bill had to sit down when he heard.  Margaret pregnant.  With _his_ kid.

Everything was different this time around.  Bill tried to pamper Margaret until she got frustrated with him and told him to back off.  Bed arrangements changed as Bill insisted on holding Margaret tight, sleeping with his head close to her belly as it grew.  Jimmy laughed at Bill’s concern, but Margaret stroked his hair and kissed the top of his head.

Jimmy ‘couldn’t get off work’, so Bill took Margaret to one of her ultrasound appointments.  He could barely contain himself when the doctor said the baby was a girl.

As excited as he was, Bill couldn’t help but have periods of melancholy.  He was having a daughter, but she’d never know, at least not until she was grown.  No one in town would know – the baby would be a Taylor, not a Koehler.

That hurt, a little, but Bill knew it’s what he’d signed up for – and what he was getting out of this was too good to pass up.  He had two people who loved him, who he loved back.  They wanted him in their beds, their lives, and in their kids’ lives.  He was family.  Even if it wasn’t official, it was still real.

Jimmy got sent for two weeks of annual training classes right around the time the baby was due.  They hoped he’d make it back before, but one week in, Margaret went into labor.

Bill came home from work to find her pacing the house, trying to keep an eye on Woody while she dealt with contractions.

“Why didn’t you call me?” Bill asked, holding her tight and pressing on her lower back to ease some pain.

“You couldn’t leave work.  What good would it do?” Margaret said, ever practical.

“Have you told Jimmy?”

“Wait ‘til after five, when his classes get out,” she said.

Bill rolled his eyes.  “He’ll want to know now.  I’m going to text him.”

“Tell him he better not skip out on work classes to come back here.  I’ll be fine,” Margaret instructed.

Bill watched her pace again for a moment, then went in the bedroom and sent Jimmy a long message – he relayed Margaret’s words, but pointed out the Sheriff would probably understand if he left early.

_You take care of her,_ Jimmy texted back between classes.  _Don’t you dare leave her alone._

Bill didn’t.  He tried to emulate what Jimmy had done before Woody was born, what _he’d_ done to help – all without having a freakout.  How come Margaret was calmer than he was?

He took her to the clinic in Jimmy’s stead, Margaret insisting that he come into the delivery room with her.  Bill felt sure they got some odd looks, but he made sure to mention to the nurses that Jimmy was out of town and he was just filling in.

Bill let Margaret squeeze his hand, coming close to breaking fingers, and got her water as needed, though mostly she wanted him there by her side.  Before he was ready, Margaret was screaming and then pushing and then very slowly, his daughter was born.

The men hadn’t been able to agree on a name, so Margaret took charge and named her Sally.  She had a head of dark hair and looked – thankfully – like Margaret’s baby pictures.

Bill was entranced.  The next day couldn’t come soon enough – he was ready to take both of these girls he loved home.  He wanted to hold his daughter.  He wanted to make sure Margaret got rested up and healed properly.  He, selfishly, wanted to pretend this was his family and his family alone for a few days.

Not that he minded sharing with Jimmy.  But it was nice to imagine for a bit that he could be Sally’s dad, not just her father.

Sally was tiny and precious and Bill couldn’t get enough of her.  Margaret had to remind him that everyone in the house needed sleep and to “Put the baby down and come to bed.”

Jimmy came home three days later, greeting both Bill and Margaret with huge, enveloping hugs and kisses on their heads.  He was ecstatic over Sally, too.  Bill couldn’t blame him: she was five days old and the best thing he’d ever seen.

That night, the three of them fell into bed together, smiling and laughing.  There was no sex, just cuddles, but there was no doubt all three of them were happy and in love. 

Bill didn’t want to imagine what his life would have been like if he hadn’t taken the Taylors’ offer.

 

 

Six years later, the three of them were still making it work. 

It was a little harder, now that the kids were older.  Bill had to pretend he slept in his rented bedroom for their sake and all major displays of affection were saved until after bedtime.  But Jimmy would still squeeze Bill’s shoulder as he walked by, and Bill would place a hand on Margaret’s back as he squeezed past her in the kitchen.

Toys took over the floors and Jimmy’s collection of old lawnmowers and sheds – “I’ll fix ‘em up someday!” – took over the backyard.  Bill made himself useful by keeping everyone’s cars running.  He offered to watch the kids while Jimmy and Margaret went out, but they refused to go without him.

As far as the kids knew, Bill was just a renter.  He wasn’t their parents’ lover, he wasn’t Sally’s father.  Maybe someday they’d tell them, but nine and six were far too young to learn the truth.

Bill’d come to accept that.  He could love those kids from a slight distance and he got to be Uncle Bill, who wasn’t expected to discipline.  Not too bad a trade-off, in the end.

It wasn’t all light and easy, though.  Sometimes there were fights.  Sometimes someone needed some alone time and would sleep in Bill’s old room.  Sometimes Bill felt left out – yes, _still_.  But inevitably, Margaret would take Bill in hand and explain things to him.  She had a no-nonsense way about her that Bill appreciated.

Which brought them to one particular night, after a long shift.  Margaret was cooking dinner and Jimmy and Bill were relaxing over beers while the kids worked on homework between them.

If only Margaret were on the couch with them, thought Bill, life would be perfect.  Everyone together and relatively peaceful.

Woody whined and Jimmy sent both kids out to play – after checking with Margaret, of course.  They didn’t think anything of it until the kids came running back in, crying.

The adults followed them outside and next thing Bill knew, Margaret slipped her hand into Bill’s, squeezing tight, as they looked at a mushroom cloud.  The kids were too upset to notice.

The men looked at each other and knew it was time to go back to work.  Hats were donned, ties were clipped on, and while the kids were still out back, Margaret gave both a kiss and told them to be home soon.

“Soon,” they promised.

 

“Soon,” Bill thought frantically as the trunk slammed shut over them.  More like never.

Tears filled his eyes and he thrashed as much as he could in the confined space, trying to loosen the duct tape binding him.  Jimmy grunted underneath him, in pain, yes, but Bill could tell he was trying to communicate.

Bill wasn’t ready to listen.  He wanted to fight.  His whole body hurt from the beating he’d been given – he’d attracted their attackers’ attention so they left Jimmy alone.  Blood from his nose, from the cuts above his eyebrows.  Pain from his ribs, from bruises forming across his abdomen.  Nausea and dizziness from the blows to his head.

Bill wanted out of that trunk, wanted Jimmy out of that trunk.  He didn’t want them to die there – especially Jimmy.  Jimmy had to go back and be a dad.  Bill was just the ‘uncle’.  Jimmy was more important than Bill, any day.

So Bill fought.  He tried to force the duct tape off his mouth so he could bite and pull the trunk release tag glowing green above his head.  Worming his way towards it, he accidentally kicked Jimmy in the side.

Jimmy screamed through the duct tape and Bill froze.  Shit, he’d hurt Jimmy.  He’d let those men hurt Jimmy.  What had he done?

Stilling, he tried to get his breathing under control.  He wasn’t going to get them out of the trunk now, but maybe he’d have the chance once the car stopped moving.  Once it felt like his head stopped moving.  Once…

 

Light woke Bill some hours later – it was near midday by the look of the sun.  Bill tried to do the mental math, but it was too hard.  Fifteen was a good number, he decided.  Fifteen hours locked in the trunk of their own car.

There was a short firefight and then Bonnie’s wonderful face looked into the trunk.  She helped Jimmy out, who helped pull Bill out.  Jimmy went and grabbed their stolen guns and Bonnie helped Bill limp into the Richmond’s storm shelter.

Bill’s vision swam still, but he made it downstairs and into a corner, where he sat next to Jimmy.  No longer caring about appearances, he leaned his head against Jimmy’s shoulder, hoping to stop the pain.  Jimmy wrapped an arm around him.  No one in the room batted an eyelash, considering they’d all just been through something traumatic.

Jimmy leaned against Bill’s head and Bill wanted to let him, but they couldn’t be too open.  He forced himself up and to the stairs to sit by Jake.  He wanted to know what happened since they were sent out to search for Jake last night.

Jake got Bill caught up to the point where Emily shot a man holding Bonnie hostage.  Ah, Bill thought.  “I get it,” he said.

They listened to the rain, rejoiced when Stanley joined them, and then Bill and Jimmy were split up: Jimmy to the mines to help free the people trapped there, Bill to the clinic with Stanley and to get patched up himself.

Unfortunately, their day wasn’t over.  Instead of going home, Bill met Jimmy at the Mayor’s office, where they heard what happened to the Sheriff and all their coworkers.

They were the only ones left.

Bill was grateful he’d been given anti-nausea medicine or he might have lost it then and there.

“Go home, sons.  Get some rest and come back tomorrow.  We’ll have more to deal with then,” Johnston said kindly.

 

They trudged home in the dark, Jimmy’s arm around Bill – helping him stay upright, yes, but also providing comfort Bill needed.

Margaret was on the couch, crying, when they walked in.  She looked at them as if she’d seen a ghost.

“They said you were dead,” she whispered.  “I was trying to figure out how to tell the kids in the morning.”

“We almost were,” admitted Jimmy.  “Bill came closer than me.  He’s hurt, hon.”  Jimmy shoved Bill forward lightly, right into Margaret’s arms.  It was painful to hug, but Bill wrapped his arms around her and didn’t want to let go.

Warmth enveloped him from the back and Bill knew Jimmy had joined the hug.  He relaxed for the first time in over twenty-four hours, letting these two hold him up.  He was back where he belonged.

Margaret kissed them both deeply, then led them into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.  Very carefully, she undressed both men.  It didn’t take long; the convicts had left them half-naked to start with.

She ran her hands down Bill’s compression wrap and kissed his face bandages.  She did the same for Jimmy’s bruises and scraped face, too.

“I can’t believe I almost lost you both,” she murmured.  In the moonlight, Bill saw tears shining in her eyes.  She crawled back in the bed, taking her usual spot in the middle.

Bill started to follow her, figuring a shower could wait for morning, but Jimmy reached out and stopped him.

They caught each other’s eyes and Bill knew exactly what Jimmy was feeling, because he was feeling it, too.  They came so close to dying together, for each other.  They couldn’t go back to the way things were before.

For nine years, they’d shared a bed, shared Margaret, shared lives.  Bill had always known Jimmy felt more for him than he did for Jimmy, but after the past two days?  The world was different.  Bill was different.

Jimmy gently pulled Bill to him, in a tight hug.  “You saved me,” he said.  “You got their attention and now look at you.  That could have been me.”

“You needed to be here,” Bill muttered, thankful for the painkillers Dr. Green had given him.  “I didn’t.”

Margaret crawled up behind him and kissed the back of his neck.  “Bill, do you really think you’re that disposable to us?  That we don’t need you exactly as much as you need us?”

“Of course I am,” Bill said, trying not to cry.  “You’re the spouses.  You’re the parents.”

“What can we do to convince you?” Jimmy asked.  While Margaret caressed his spine, Jimmy gently grabbed Bill’s face and kissed his forehead, lingering close by.  Bill knew Jimmy was giving him the choice here, that he’d back off the second Bill said something.

Bill leaned forward, saying yes. 

It was different from kissing Margaret.  Scratchier – both men had two-day stubble – and Jimmy tasted different.  Not to different to how he smelled, though, and Bill was used to that.

There were tears on his face when he pulled back.  “Jimmy, I…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Jimmy said.  “I understand.”

Bill shook his head.  “No, not that.  I don’t know what to do.”

Jimmy’s face softened.  “Don’t worry about that tonight.  We’ve got you, buddy.”

Margaret tugged and nudged Bill into her usual spot in the middle.  She kissed him in all the right places, licking and biting and everything Bill liked and any doubts Bill’s dick had were blown away on her warm breath.

She straddled him over his neck and Bill reached up to guide her down to his face.  This wasn’t a new position and Bill got right to work.

What _was_ new was the hand on his dick.  A little rough and a little callused, just like his hands, it was almost familiar.  Bill bucked up into Jimmy’s hand, groaning a little.

“Don’t you dare stop,” Margaret said.  “Not unless I’m hurting you.”

Bill got back to business, trying his best not to let the hand job distract him, but it was oh so hard – just like him.  He tried to focus on how Margaret tasted and the way she threw her head back when he hit the right spots, but then Jimmy would twist his hand just so or vary the pressure like that and Bill was grounded again, caught between giving and getting pleasure.

Metaphorically gritting his teeth, Bill licked Margaret more forcefully, trying to bring her to orgasm soon so he wasn’t as distracted.  It worked; a minute later she was twisting and writhing above him, begging him to stop.  Bill let her fall to his side of the bed and lay there, not looking down, but enjoying the hand job he was getting.  If he closed his eyes, it was like he was getting himself off.

He whimpered.  He was getting close and Margaret had returned to nip at his chest and his stomach and down close to Jimmy’s hand and oh God he was coming whether anyone wanted him to or not.

Jimmy stroked him through his climax, then got up to clean his hand.  He handed Bill a tissue, too.

“Jesus, Jimmy,” Bill said, taking the tissue.  “That was… well, that was amazing.”  Jimmy was still hard, Bill noted.  What could Bill do to help him?

He knew.  But he’d just now worked up to kissing Jimmy.  Was he up to a blow job or… letting Jimmy come inside him?

Bill didn’t have to decide.  Margaret climbed atop her husband and took him in.  “I want both of you tonight,” she said.  “I almost lost you, now I’m not gonna let go.”

Sitting up, Bill ran a hand tentatively over Jimmy’s chest.  Jimmy was hairier than he was, something that had always made Bill feel less manly.  Tonight, though, it didn’t seem to matter.

Margaret leaned forward, a hand on Jimmy’s chest, and kissed Bill, forcing her tongue past his lips while she continued to ride Jimmy.  “You’re part of us, damn it,” she said.  “Don’t you dare forget it again.”

When Jimmy finished, Margaret rolled off, just barely missing Bill.  He’d rolled when he saw her coming – as much as he liked it when she lay atop him, it would be too painful tonight.

He let Margaret situate him in the bed, however, knowing that fight was futile.  His arm and leg wrapped around her, pressed naked up against her body.  Jimmy mirrored him, wrapped around them both, the weight of his arm warm and comforting across Bill’s shoulder.

Life would be different in the morning.  They’d get up and go back to their jobs, the only survivors of the entire department.  They’d face whatever those bombs brought with them.

Tonight, though, they were three, sleeping as one.  And for tonight, at least, Bill believed this was exactly where he belonged.


End file.
